Retired IAS officer remarries his wife of over 54 years as he turns 80

Retired IAS officer remarries his wife of over 54 years as he turns 80

TNN | Aug 12, 2018, 07:39 IST

Sadabhishekam is a ceremony that commemorates the completion of 80 years of age.

R Parthasarathy, a retired IAS officer, has remarried Pramila (formerly of Miranda House and Delhi School of Economics), his wife of over 54 years, in a religious ritual called Sadabhishekam. Sadabhishekam is a ceremony that commemorates the completion of 80 years of age. Sashtipoorthi marks the completion of 60 years and Bheemartha Santhi, of 70 years. Parthasarathy turned 80 on July 29, 2018, according to the Hindu calendar. His daughter and brothers flew in from the US for the function. He completed 80 on August 11, according to the English calendar.

Sadabhishekam comprises prayers to the family deity, ishta daivam or kula daivam. By the time one completes 80 and enters the 81st year, one would have seen 1,000 full moons or had Sahasra Poorna Chandra Darsanam or Sahasra Poorna Chandrodayam.

Brahmins of South India believe that the performance of special pujas and yagnas like Ayush Homam, and Ganapathy, Navagraha, Dhanvantri, Lakshmi Narayana, or Gauri Shankara Homams gets rid of all sins and bestows longevity and good health. The punya acquired by these rituals is said to equal that of darshan in all holy places, and a bath in holy rivers such as the Ganga. The function is organized by children, grandchildren, brothers and others in the family. Younger people seek the blessings of the couple who have had Sadabhishekam. The remarriage follows the full procedure of a regular marriage with the exchange of garlands and the mangalsutra is tied again before the holy Agni.

Parthasarathy’s Sadabhishekam was organized in Urapakkam, a village near his ancestral native place of Kanchipuram, now on the outskirts of Chennai. The function was held in the traditional manner, with Veda Parayanam and also the recitation of Divya Prabhandam (Tamil Vedas) by teams of learned pandits, spread over two full days Everyone worships God but God himself is said to worship six classes of people, one of whom is the Sahasra Poorna Chandra Darshi. Sadabhishekam is considered one of the most important rituals in ancient Hindu tradition, practised in India and Nepal.

It is more common in the southern states though not unknown in the North. Parthasarathy could not celebrate Sashtipoorthi in 1998 as he was studying at the Leeds University nor Bheemartha Santhi in 2008 as he was in England again.

Very few persons are fortunate enough to go through the Sadabhishekam ritual. In and from Gujarat, he is perhaps the only IAS officer apart from the late H M Patel, ICS, whose public function he had attended in the 1980s. Several senior retired IAS and IPS officers participated in the function last month.

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